What Would Happen If You Played Tug-Of-War in Outer Space?

What would happen if you played tug-of-war in outer space? Would you be able to stand and pull with all your might, as you would on Earth, or would something entirely different happen?

As with many experiments in space, something entirely different happens. Instead of the losing side getting pulled toward the winning side, both players get pulled toward each other, ending up in a somewhat awkward embrace.

In other words, any time you exert a force on an object, that object exerts an equal force back. This law can be less evident on Earth than in space because of Earth's gravity. For instance, if you were pushing a boulder on Earth, it would be hard to move the rock because of its large mass. But, perhaps unbeknownst to you, the hefty rock is pushing back at you with the exact same force. You would fly backward if gravity weren't holding you firmly on the ground.

In contrast, these forces are extremely evident in the microgravity of space, said NASA spokesman Daniel Huot.

"When you push on something, it pushes back, and that can propel you away" in space, Huot told Live Science.

Koichi Wakata, an astronaut with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), demonstrated just that when he played a game of tug-of-war with Robert Thirsk, an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency. The two did the experiment in the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2009. Astronauts often do experiments like this to engage with the public, Huot said.

In a video of the experiment, the moment Wakata and Thirsk pull on the tug-of-war rope (in this case, a towel), they immediately move toward each other, then collide.

"When you see them tugging on the towel, you're seeing that force in action," Huot said. "You impart that force on the towel. It imparts it back on you, and you move toward it."

This situation is very different from playing the same game on the ground. "When you're playing tug-of-war down here on Earth, usually the person who weighs more and has a little bit more chemical energy in their muscles is going to win that fight," Huot said.

But in the microgravity of space, "if you're not anchored in place, then when you push [or pull] on something, it's going to push [or pull] back, and you're going to go flying," Huot said.

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As a senior writer for Live Science, Laura Geggel covers general science, including the environment and amazing animals. She has written for The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site covering autism research. Laura grew up in Seattle and studied English literature and psychology at Washington University in St. Louis before completing her graduate degree in science writing at NYU. When not writing, you'll find Laura playing Ultimate Frisbee. Follow Laura on Google+.